From 1 April, couples in Scotland may be eligible for three cycles of IVF.
Photograph: Zephyr/Getty Images/Brand X

The Scottish government is to fund three cycles of NHS IVF treatment for eligible couples trying to start a family – more than the number available in some parts of England and Wales.

Announcing the move, the public health minister, Aileen Campbell, defended the spending at a time of pressure on accident and emergency departments and waiting times.

Campbell told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “We have always had a commitment towards ensuring there is as equitable access to IVF as there possibly can be and we had a number of recommendations presented to us that we accepted from the National Infertility Group.

“One of these included ensuring that couples could get access to three cycles of IVF. That is today what we are taking forward.

“The very positive announcement of allowing couples who are desiring to have a family to get access to three cycles has been welcomed across the different fertility organisations.”

The Scottish National party minister said money had been “put aside” to fund the IVF programme.

Asked how she squared this with other demands on funding in the Scottish NHS, she said: “We have got a fairly strong record across Scotland on our NHS. Some of our A&Es have outperformed the lion’s share of England’s A&Es.

“We are outperforming A&Es across the UK and have done for some months. We have good investment levels in the NHS and we have record numbers of staff.

“We have got a commitment to our NHS that we will invest more money in our NHS than any of the other parties that stood in the election.”

Campbell said: “We want to make access to treatment on the NHS as fair as possible – giving more people the opportunity to conceive. Over the last five years we have invested around £24m to reduce IVF waiting times and improve the outcomes for couples. These changes make NHS IVF access in Scotland by far the fairest and most generous in the UK.”

Scottish Labour’s health spokesman, Anas Sarwar, said: “Scottish Labour argued in its manifesto for an increase in the number of full cycles of IVF available to couples from two to three. This is a very welcome and long-overdue announcement from the Scottish government.”